Gambling has injected more than $385 million into Pennsylvania coffers in the first year since a law was passed to expand gambling in the state, according to an analysis by PlayPennsylvania.com.

And York County should see the amplified gambling opportunities soon:

Video gaming terminals are planned for five Rutter’s convenience stores in York County.

Back in September, the York Galleria was selected as the site for a mini-casino in York County by Penn National Gaming Inc.

The revenues are coming in at about $1 million a day and have surpassed state budget estimates, according to Jessica Welman, analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. Most has been generated from fees, rather than tax revenue gained from gamblers.

“We have approved 23 truck stop locations throughout the state, though any launch of those is still out until at least the first quarter of 2019,” said Dough Harbach, gaming board spokesman. “We will be doing onsite visits to verify what was in their application.”

Applications for gaming terminals at 20 Rutter’s stores await approval, including those in the York and Wrightsville area.

The Rutter's locations include:

4425 W. Market St, West Manchester Township

129 Leader Heights, York Township

2125 Susquehanna Trail, Manchester Township

362 N. Main St, York, Loganville

201 Cool Springs Road, Wrightsville

The 23 conditionally approved locations include the Sunoco owned by Raj Pike Management Corporation in Carlisle, Gettysburg Travel Plaza in Gettysburg and the Sunoco owned by K and H Trading in York Springs.

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With the news that York County was approved for a mini-casino - and with much of southern York County legally open to the idea - what do residents of the area think?
Anthony J. Machcinski, York Daily Record

Up to five terminal are allowed at a truck stop. Each play has a randomly generated outcome from the previous play, the same as a video slot machine, according to the gaming board.

They will accept only cash, with a maximum bet of $5 and a maximum payout of $1,000. The return-to-player rate is mandated at 85 percent, the same as for slot machines. Players play against each other rather than against the house.

More than half of the gross revenue from them will go to the state:

42 percent into Pennsylvania’s General Fund.

10 percent to grants awarded by the Commonwealth Finance Agency to any county.

The proposed mini casino in Springettsbury Township initially was set to operate approximately 500 slot machines and 20 table games. But it has been designed to operate up to 750 slot machines and up to 40 table games, according to Penn National Gaming.

The company believes this location, along with a second mini-casino license in Berks County, "will provide us a great opportunity to generate new revenues in the Commonwealth while protecting our existing market share in Central Pennsylvania," said Eric Schippers, senior vice president of public affairs and government relations for Penn National.

The new casino is also expected to generate 200 new permanent local jobs and more than 75 construction jobs, according to a release from Penn National.

Using return-to-player rates of the games, PlayPennsylvania estimates that the state has collected more than $23 million from online lotto games ($19.6 million), Keno ($3.6 million) and virtual sports ($87,000) through October. Other sources of revenue so far from the law expanding gambling include:

Mini-casino auction profits, $128 million

Interactive gaming petitions, $94 million

Casino licensing, $78 million

Sports betting petitions, $60 million

Daily Fantasy Sports tax revenue, $1.4 million

“If the point of the expansion was to fill short-term gaps in the state’s budget, then the expansion would have to be considered a success so far,” Welman said. “We believe that the gambling expansion will eventually prove to be a winner for the state’s budget, but the long-term picture is less certain.

"More casinos and sportsbooks must open before we get a clear picture of whether Pennsylvania’s relatively steep tax rates and license fees will produce the desired outcome.”

The state collected $799.8 million in taxes from statewide slot revenues in fiscal 2017-18.

Pennsylvania estimated in February that the state will generate more than $34 billion in general fund revenues for its 2018-19 fiscal year.

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